Feed mechanism for printing machines



Oct. 27,1925. 1. 87

F; WAITE FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed June 18, 1925; e Sheets-Sheet 1 F. WAITE FEED MECHANISM FOR I PRINTING MACHINES Oct. 27, 1925- Filed June 1a, 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 27, Q F. WAITE FEED macmmxsm FOR PRINTING mcnmas Filed June 18, 1923 e Sheets-Sheet 5 Oct. .27, 1925- i I F. WAITE :FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed "June 18, 1923 F. WAITE Oct. 27, 1925 FEED NiECHAfiI S M FOR P INTING MACHINES Filed Jux xe -la, 719 23 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Oct. 27,

F. WAITE FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed June 18, 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Get. 27, 1925.

* {UNITED STATES Lasers? FRED WAITE, or OTLEY, ENGLAND.

FEED MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES. f

Application filed June 18, 1923. SerialNo. 646,103.

To all whom it may concern. Y i

Be it known that I, FRED VVArrn, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of Inglewood, Otley, in the county of .York, England, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Feed Mechanism for Printing Machines, of whichthe following description, having reference to the ac-' companying sheets of drawings, is a specification. i

In the printing of envelopes, cards, sheets of paper and the like, which vary considerably in thickness and which are to be detached singly from a pile to be fed to the printing machine, difliculty is experienced in detaching each single envelope (or the like) from the pile and many and varied methods have been followed in carrying out this detaching and separating process. My present invention consists in the production of novel means for separating or detaching said envelopes whether same are comparatively thick or bulky or are thinner, that is to say, whether the envelopes are comparatively thick envelopes or the cards are'comparatively thick cards or are thin cards or paper and these functions I perform with the greatest precision so that each one is fed to the printing'machine and bundles of supplies may be placed int-he hopper by theattendant during and without stopping or-arresting the motions of the machine. My said method of selection, while bringing each envelope, card or the like into position for enabling sald envelope, card or the llke to be gripped and :carried forward to the other parts from: which it is fed to the printing machine entlrely prevents such envelope or card from dis-arranging the other cards .11 the pile. Further than this the reg1ster ing of the envelope, card'or, the like on the feed plate and the detaching of sa-me,so-thatonv .its absence the impression may be checkech are effectively performed: by de vices operating in conpinction with the other parts of my improved mechanism.

in order that my said'i-nvention may be, better understood, I have hereunto appended sheetsnof drawings illustrative thereof in Which:' Y

1 is a side elevation showing my improved mechanism as applied to a platen printing machine, and with the suction apparatus in engagement with the lowestenvelope or, card in. the pile.--

Fig- 2 is similar view to Fig. 1, but illustrates the same parts of the machine moved into the1r;respect1ve relative POSl'.

tions after the suction nozzles havedetached the lowest card from the pile.

- the several positions they; assume.

Fig. 4 is a similar view to Fig. 2 but shows certain of the parts drawn to an enlargedscale. v o

Fig. 5 is a similar view to Figs." 1 and 2, but shows the positions of certain parts when delivering the'card or envelope into the place where the other-parts of the machine are encountered 'to take same forward to carry out-the printing process, said figure being. drawn to same scale as Figs. 3 and 4:.

Fig.6 is a side elevation but shows deviceswhich are used in connection with those shown by the other figures for adjusting the, card in position prior to the grippersof the printing machine carrying same forwardto undergo the printing operations. r

- Fig. 7 is a plan of parts shown by Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a plan of the feed table and parts mounted upon it. e r

Fig. 9 is a side elevation showing the gripping devices and means for operating same according to my invention. These de vices aredrawn to a still larger scale.

In accordance, with my invention I make use of a chute, shoot or hopper 2 into which I feed a bundle or'pile of envelopes, cards or sheets of paper 3 (hereinafter referred to ,as cards). so that the same may descend v '60 Fig. 3 is a similar elevation to Fig. 1,

high to retain the cards 3 within the shoot 2 behind it. The up-peredge a of the-plate is preferab-ly situated at about the, middle. part of the cards or slightly higher While over the top of the, shoot 2's plate 5 is mounted to overhang the cards beneath and to extend beyond the lowest card in theshoot 2 so that all the upper edges ofsaid cards are covered by'said plate5 until after their selection and detachment as is hereinafter described and as is shown by Figs. 2 and 3.

Adjoining the cross plate 4; at the base of the shoot are mounted a series of suchers 6 which derive their suction from an appropriate exhaust pump 7 (or from any well known source) and these suckers 6 are mounted upon arms 8 which are fixed upon an oscillating shaft 9 so that as said shaft 9 oscillates the surfaces or nostrils of the suckers 6 may be presented to the surface of the lowest card 8 and in a position over and above the cross plate t as shown by Figs. 1 and 3 in order that on the moving of the suckers 6 into their positions shown by Fig. 2 the upper part of the lowest card 3 is bent and separated or divided from the other cards behind it as is shown by' Figs. 2. and 4. This bending of the upper part of the card has the effect of bringing the upper edge thereof from beneath or clear of the cover 5 which extends across the shoot 2 as above described.

The Centre of oscillation of the arms 8 which carry the suckers 6 is so situated relatively to the point at which the bending of the card takes place (which bending is near or about the upper edge of the plate 4-) that said centre of oscillation is approxi mately coincident with, or to the rear of, the line where the bend of the cards is made when the nostrils 6 are moved through their curved path thus the moving of the card is under such conditions that the surface contacts of the nostrils 6 are not disturbed hence the suction actions are not interfered with but are enabled to act with the greatest precision.

In conjunction with the suction .deviccs described I make use of grippers 10 (see Fig. 21) which I mount upon oscillating arms 11 by means of a cross shaft 12 mounted upon lever arm 13. These arms 13 are the quadrant extensions of levers l3 fixed upon the oscillating shaft 14 one of said lever arms 13 with its quadrant part 13 being on one side of the machine while there is a similar arm and quadrant on the other side of the machine.

On the shaft 12, upon which the gripping devices 10 are mounted is also fixed the toothed quadrant 11, and this quadrant 11 is made to mesh with another toothed quadrant 15 pivoted on the quadrant arm 13. The grippers 10 are caused to open by the bowl on the arm of the lever 15 coming into contact with a pivoted incline 15 which causes the grippers to open towards the end of their forward movement and to continue open till the end of that stroke. when the incline 15 is permitted to descend (by the raised part of its operating cam 15 moving beyond the bowl 15 which is carried bv the lever 15 to which lever the incline 15 is connected by the rod on the lever 15 will encounter another in.

cline 15 (Fig. which is mounted on the horizontal arm of the lever by which incline 15 the grippers 10 are opened so as to deposit their envelope or card upon the feed table 16 beneath.

The lever 15 is operated by the bowl on its pendant arm being in contact with the cam 15 on the oscillating shaft 14. The lever 15 is shown by Fig. 2 in its proper relative position with the grippers 10 when these are at the end of their path away from the incline 15 so that although said incline 15 is shown in a raised position it is brought to its proper position on the approach of the grippers in order that it may act upon the lever 15 and its said movement as effected by the lever 15 is only employed in order to carry same out of the path of the well lrnown oscillating member 15 The arms 13 and quadrant portions 13 are mounted on each side of the machine but within the two end frames A A so that they do not interfere with any of the other operating parts of the apparatus whether such apparatus is for use in conjunction with a platen or other printing press.

However, when my improved devices are used in connection with a platen printing machine in order to be enabled to apply same thereto as stated without interfering with the other and well known operating parts of the machine. I arrange the radiating portions 13 of the arms to have quadrant parts 13 extending from them in order that I may be able to mount thereon the cross bar 12 in such position that the grippers 10 carried by it are brought. into position for grip ping the card when the radial arms 13 are in their lowest positions as shown by Figs. 2 and. 3. By this arrangement when the arms 18 oscillate the curved quadrant parts 1% of said arms (which, are in the form of the are of a circle the centre of which is the centre of oscillation of the shaft 14) will travel over the feed plate 16 of the machine as is shown bv Fig. 5. without coming in contact with the edge of said feed plate 16. and when in this position the grippers 1 are caused to deliver or release their hold of the card and deposit same upon the feed plate 16 as before explained.

When the grippers 10 have deposited the card upon the feed table 16 then the card or sheetadjusting-devices hereinafter described are brought into useto register said card longitudinally and laterally so that same is brought with its edge over the openings 16 in the feed plate 16 and in exact position for the grippers of the printing appa ratus to lay hold thereof in order tocarry same forward for the printing process to be carried out.

This adjustment of the card or sheet upon the feed table 16 is effected by the sliding adjusting plates 17, 17 mounted upon said feed plate 16'. These sliding adjusting plates 17, 17 are normally held by their respective springs b in a rearward position so that by having mounted on theirouter ends runners or bowls c they may be caused to: move and approach each other by the'actions of the advancing inclined ends of arms (Z, al These arms (5, extend from a bar '18 that is mounted to slide upon theifeed table 16 when acted upon as is hereinafter described. 7 j

The bar 18 is retained in its rearward normal position by means; of retracting springs f before itis moved forward to actuate the sliding plates 17, 17, r

Theslidin'g bar 18 is actuated and forced toward the notches 16 of the feed plate 15 by means of the sliding connecting rods 19, l9flone of which mounted on one side, the other on the other side of the machine and are pivoted upon the, respective arms 20', 20 which are fixed upon a shaft 22, upon which is fixed the lever 21.

The shaft 22. is the one well known'as the fris-ket shaft of the machine and this frisket shaft derives its name by reason of carrying fiat bars 23 (which are called friskets) that are used to hold down the edges of the cards on the platen face and which barsare adjustably mounted upon said shaft 22 in a manner "well known. As the rods 19, 19* slide from right to left as actuatedby their levers the hookedf or laterally projecting arias 2%, 24 extending fromthem have their lower ends arranged" to come in contact with the cross sliding bar 18 at each side of the machine as shown by Fig. 5, thus as the frisket shaft oscillates so, do the sliding bars 19, 19 oscillate and at such pro-per rela t-ive times'to cause the cross bar 18 to ad vance and move the card into position over the slots 16 of ,the feed plate and leave same in the exact position desired while at the same timethe movement of thecross bar 18 will have caused the adjusting plates 17, l? to move towards each other to adjust the position of the card laterally in order that it may be taken forward and held in the exact position desired during the subsequent printing proc'ess. jp i 1 i Inconne ction with the foregoing devices I make-use "of {detector mechanism for checking the actions "of the machine provided there is no card deposited on the feed table 16. I

On account of the comparatively short space of time in which the detector lever has to perform its functions I have found that when its detecting end is permitted to descend into action under gravity alone its said actions are very-uncertain. To avoid this I make use of a detector 25 of a comparatively light construction and I couple its operating shaft 26 by lever arms 27 to a spring actuated lever 28 said lever 28 being fixed upon a cross shaft 29 to which is fixed a lever 30 operated by a spring 3 thus by its descent under the actions of said spring 31 the detector lever 25 is causedto descend under the control of devices hereinafter described. r

- The detector shaft 26 has mounted upon it a lever 32 whichextends Vertic-ally'so that an antifriction bowl h mounted upon-it, maybe in contact with an oscillating lever 33. This oscillating lever 33 is pivoted to the framework A and derives its motion through the. connecting rod134 and lever 35 upon the arm 35, of which is mounted an antifriction bowl 7; arranged to come in contact with-so asto be operated by a cam 36 fixed upon one of the main shafts 37 of the machinej' I The lever 35 is enabled'tolreep its antifriction bowl is in contact with the periphery of the cam 36'through the actions of the retracting springs 38. j j j As will be obser'ved'the cam 36 by rotating in the direction indicated by the arrow we will at onetime raise the detector 25 and will at another time allow said detector to descend under the recoil of its retracting spring 31 until the position is reached where the detecting surface 25 of the, detector lever 25 is just approaching the position shown by Fig. 4 in which it will be only a short distance from the surface of the card upon the feed plate 16.- p p I When this position is reached the stop piece 39 on the lever 33 comes in contact with the edge of the end] frame so that the further movement of the lever '38v is arrested, while the cam36 will still move for-- ward and immediately permit the runner is to m'ove nearer its centre of rotation-andth'erefore to move the lever 35 and conse quently' the lever 33 clear of the 'antifriction' bowl h in order to permit the shaft 26 to still move forward under the weight of the arm 25 hence this detector arm will de scend through the small space described under its own weight and therefore will contact with the card beneath under such conditions as not to damagesaid car and in suflici'enttime to indicate by its checking actions to permit the motions of the machine to continue.""Provided,' however, there is no card present then the'detec'tor end 25 will pass below the feed table 26 and cause the impression to be checked by the actions of the lever 50 (which-is fixed upon the shaft 26) in well. known manner.

On the grippers having deposited a card upon the feed table and said card has been adjusted in position so that the grippers from the printing mechanism lay hold of same to carry it forward so that it may be subjected to the printing process, the grippers 10 will commence to recede and return to their former position shown by Fig. 3 and at such time the printing grippers will have removed the card from the table 16 and will have carried same forward as will be understood.

The sliding plates 17, 17 which are for adjustment of the cards in a lateral direction have projections extending above them to carry out such adjustment and these projections may be adjusted in slots formed longitudinally in said bars 17 17 to meet the requirements of the length or width of the card.

The shoot 2 is arranged so that its base 41 may be raised or lowered to meet the requirements of broader or narrower cards that have to be supplied by it, while the side walls of the said shoot or hopper are also adjustable in order that they may permit longer or shorter cards to be guided by them.

The cross piece or stop plate 4 at the base of the shoot is also made adjustable so that the position ofits upper edge may be regulated according to the depth or width of the cards that have to be fed to the machine.

As before stated, the invention is adapted for feeding envelopes, cards or sheets of paper. For convenience, any or all of such articles are to be understood as included in the term sheets employed in the following claims.

Such being the nature and object of my said invention, what I claim is 1. In a mechanism for the purpose described, the combination of a hopper adapted to support a series of sheets so that they will project above the upper edge of a stop at the lower end of the hopper, a rock shaft, a sucker supported by said shaft and adapted to be positioned to contact with the portion of the lowest sheet in the hopper that extends beyond said stop and bend said portion of the sheet along the edge of said stop as the shaft is rocked, a second rock shaft, arms extending laterally from said shaft toward the hopper and curved so that their free ends are directed rearward from the hopper, a gripper carried by said arms and adapted to engage the bent edge of the lowest sheet in the hopper and withdraw such sheet from the hopper as the shaft rocks, and means for automatically disengaging the sheet from the gripper the latter approaches the limit of its movement away from the hopper.

2. In a mechanism for the purpose described, the combination of a hopper adapted to support a series of sheets so that they will project above the upper edge of a stop at the lower end of the hopper, a rock shaft mounted on an axis adjacent and substantially parallel to the free edge of said step, a sucker supported by said shaft and adapted to be positioned to contact with the portion of the lowest sheet in the hopper that extends beyond said stop and bend said sheet along the edge of the stop as the shaft rocks, a second rock shaft, a gripper supported by the last said shaft and adapted to engage the bent edge of the lowest sheet in the hopper and withdraw such sheet from the hopper as the gripper supporting shaft oscillates. and means for automatically releasing the withdrawn sheet from the gripper as the latter approaches the limit of its movement away from the hopper.

3. In a mechanism for the purpose de scribed, the combination of a hopper adapted to support a series of sheetsso that they will project above the upper edge of a stop at the lower end of the hopper, a rock shaft, a sucker supported by said shaft and adapted to be positioned to contact with the portion of the lowest sheet in the hopper that extends beyond said stop and bend said portion of the sheet along the edge of said stop as the shaft is rocked, a second rock shaft, two arms projecting from the last said shaft and extending toward the hopper, said arms being spaced sufficiently to pass on opposite sides of the hopper, a shaft journalled in said arms adjacent the free ends thereof, a gripper jaw mounted on each end of said shaft, a second gripper jaw pivotally mounted on each lever and adapted to cooperate with the adjacent gripping jaw on the shaft, means for rocking the second said rock shaft to carry the grippers to and from a position to engage the bent edge of the lowest sheet in the hopper, means for rocking the pivoted gripping jaws as they approach th hopper to separate the jaws to permit them to receive the bent edge of the lowest sheet in the hopper, means for closing the jaws upon said sheet, and means for disengaging the sheet from the gripping jaws as the latter approach the limit of their movement away from the hopper.

4. In a mechanism for the purpose described, the combination of a hopper adapted to support a series of sheets, a substantially horizontal rock shaft, an arm carried by the rock shaft, a gripper supported by said shaft and including a pivotally mounted jaw, the parts being so arranged that as the shaft oscillates the gripper will be carried toward and from the hopper, a pivotally mounted cam adapted to rock the pivoted gripping jaw to open position as the gripper approaches thehopper, means. for positively swinging said cam from position to engage said jaw as the gripper receives the lowest sheet in the hopper, and means for automatically disengaging the sheet from the gripper as the latter approaches the limit of its movement away from the hopper.

5. In a mechanism for the purpose described, the combination of a hopper adapted to support a series of sheets, a substantially horizontal rock shaft, arms projecting from said shaft toward the hopper, a rock shaft journalled in said arms near the free ends thereof, a gripping jaw secured to said rock shaft, a second gripping jaw pivotally mounted on one of the levers and having a toothed engagement with a member on the shaft whereby said jaw and shaft will be rocked in unison, a cam normally extending into the path of the pivotally mounted jaw so that the jaws will be separated as they approach the hopper, positive means for withdrawing said cam from the path of the gripping jaw to permit the jaws to close upon the lowest sheet in the; hopper, and means for automatically disengaging the Withdrawn sheet from the gripper as the latter approaches the limit of its move ment away from the hopper.

6. In a mechanism for the purpose described, the combination of, a hopper adapted to support a series of sheets, a substantially horizontal rock shaft, arms projecting from said shaft toward the hopper, a rock shaft journalled in said arms near the free ends thereof, a gripping jaw secured to said rock shaft, a second gripping aw pivotally mounted on one of the levers and having "a toothed engagement with a member on the shaft whereby said jaw and shaft will be rocked in unison, a cam normally extending into the path of the pivotally mounted jaw so that the jaws will be separated as they approach the hopper, positive means for withdrawing said cam from the path of the gripping jaw to permit the jaws to close upon the lowest sheet in the hopper, and a second cam'adapted to engage the pivotally mounted jaw to actuate it to disengage the sheet as the gripper approaches the limit of its movement away from the hopper.

' FRED WAITE. 

